Bureaucratic nonsense

Interestingly, when I got to the vaccination centre and was booking in, there was a heated discussion going on between a couple of people and one of the organisers regarding how hard it had been to get an appointment.

Maybe it is better in other areas of the country.

In the end!!

And I’m glad it worked for you too.

Good to hear that the system worked for you.

We both got our texts on Wednesday, 6 calendar months and 3 days after our second jabs. I clicked on the national (England only perhaps?) booking site yesterday and had a choice of 12 hubs within a 6 mile radius, with appointments free from tomorrow until 28 November. Chose the most convenient date and venue for us and booked. It took about ten minutes in all.

I have had my booster - this afternoon.

My concern about the chaotic nature of the system that achieves this is one shared by those working in it. They have been very open about that. It makes their job far more difficult that it need be.

The first two vaccines had a much clearer system which worked reasonably well.

Just because someone raises a concern (not "carping - raising a concern) about this does not mean that they do not hugely appreciate the privilege of having that vaccine; but it does mean that they are concerned that the failings in the booster bookings could lead to fewer people being protected, to the detriment of us all.

Was sent a letter re my booster.
Went on line and was offered a choice of places and times.
Chose two days later.

OH is slightly younger, almost 3 years from jabs. Went on line and again offer of places and times.
Chose two days time.
All done in 30 minutes.
And this in a city which is reported to have problems with Covid

The whole process of setting up Covid vaccination centres is far more complex than one might imagine. Even having the vaccine reach a centre on a particular day and time is difficult and challenging.

Covid centres have been run with the help of volunteers. Has anyone carping on this thread even thought of offering help?

These volunteers are now tired and jaded and there is difficulty in having enough people available to help.

I will say one last time, we have done a brilliant job in having vaccines reach so many of our population: there just has to be 'rules and protocols' in place as the system could not run without them.

Oh, to the person who couldn't have their vaccine on a Saturday morning as they worked: could you not have your vaccine at the beginning, end or lunchtime that day? Yes, you would miss an hour or so of work (at most) but you would have on board a life-saving vaccine. Is that worth the inconvenience of possibly losing an hour's pay? Although, I would be very surprised if an employer would not cover your pay for that reason.

We are in the middle of a pandemic but we live in a wealthy country whose NHS staff and volunteers are doing their very best. It won't be a perfect system and some people are bound to fall through gaps, which is unfortunate but... we have to take some responsibility for our own health and well-being and if there is a system set up we have to follow those rules. It helps the system run well.

I trust the original poster has now been able to have her vaccine....?

I sympathise Lucky Gjrl. The govt is anxious that we should have boosters. Ringing the NHS can be a total waste of time. It is NOT a first world problem for people with serious disease who qualify. I am one of those people but my specific problem is not general because as I was stuck overseas with no flights
my jabs of AZ were given there so NHS did not have any record.I tried eConsult with the GP which yielded nothing, so I went on Next Door which gave me 82 replies. One was from a woman who did the jabbing close by to me. She told me to come and as I cannot stand for long she gave me her phone number and will come and get me so I can get the vaccine. You might not subscribe to the old saying “God helps those who help themselves” but I do and try to work out my own solutions. It saves the NHS time and mine too. My part of London has a lot of resourceful people because many surgeries do not respond to requests.

Maybe strong, but it was in response to an equally offensive comment.

I thought the whole point of having a written 'debate' on Gransnet was to... debate. In other words, people will obviously hold differing opinions and should - within reason - be free to state their point of view.

However, some comments are offensive. This is one in point:
You might be happy to be treated as an unquestioning peasant, but I'm not.

Completely unnecessary.

I posted earlier about this. Yes, there has been a glitch in the system - my GP sent a text asking me to book this Tuesday as there had been a problem with the IT system but it still won't let me book!

You might be happy to be treated as an unquestioning peasant, but I’m not.

Haha, would you rather I was an entitled aristocrat?

MayBee70

A friend of mine spent ages on the phone booking his booster. But when he then asked for his wife to have hers (they were both due at the same time) she has to have hers a week later. Which is a nuisance as she doesn’t drive. Am I right in thinking that the Pfizer vaccine no longer has to be kept at sub zero temperatures? I’m sure I read ages ago that it was now easier to transport.

Maybee70 It's difficult to find the real info for the UK on this. The US has certainly ruled it can be held at higher temps. There are articles saying Europe hasn't ruled yet. I've had problems trying to discover the UK position.

You might be happy to be treated as an unquestioning peasant, but I'm not.

How rude. But not unexpected.

Good grief! I can’t believe the way this thread has gone. Each to their own I suppose but without ‘nasties’ would be nice.

maddyone

^But it is a nuisance. Surely it couldn’t have been difficult to do them both at th3 same time.^

You just don’t get it do you natateturbe? We are priveleged to be getting a third vaccine in this country and the entitlement of some people is frankly unbelievable. Nuisance is unbelievable. Some people in this world have to walk hours in a day just to get clean water. Some people in this world have to walk days to get to the nearest hospital or doctor. We are priveleged to live here, just a simple accident of birth, and people moan about having to make a little effort to access their third free vaccine. Frankly I’m astounded! How about a little sense of proportion. We should all be grateful that we’re being offered, and will get, a third vaccine.

Yeah! And I bet your mother told you to eat your greens because poor children in Africa are starving.

You might be happy to be treated as an unquestioning peasant, but I'm not.

Nannapat1

Growstuff some of the comments on this thread (not yours) make me feel like not engaging with GN any more.

I know how you feel.

I feel more unsafe now when I go out than I did last year, simply because the majority of people are not wearing masks or sanitising their hands in public places, unless they are required to do so.
I phoned 119 yesterday to book booster jabs for me, my husband and my Mum at our local hospital. After lots of extension options and waiting for several minutes, I managed to get through to a very nice man who went through all our details one at a time. He asked if we were feeling unwell - we weren’t. I mentioned that my Mum had had her flu jab the previous day and he advised that she should wait 7 days before having the COVID booster. So I had to cancel the 3 appointments. He said that our details would be retained so that I wouldn’t have to go through it all again (NHS nos., DOBs, etc.
After the call we checked the NHS COVID website - it states that it’s safe to have the flu and COVID jabs together! So…I phoned 119 again and spoke to a different person. My details had not been retained, so I did have to go through it all again! Not only our details, but their system doesn’t record phone nos. either, so after each booking I had to quote my number for confirmation messages. Both of the people I spoke to were lovely, but it must equally frustrating for them to have to keep repeating the same questions. ?
I agree we are very lucky to have the opportunity to get the booster jab, but the booking system needs to be improved.

Agree Maddyone I caught Covid after my double jabs and I guess it was thanks to the vaccinations that I was just unwell for about 3 weeks with what seemed like a ‘normal’ flu.

Growstuff some of the comments on this thread (not yours) make me feel like not engaging with GN any more.

BlueSky I’m the same as you. I’ve been vaccinated twice and I caught Covid before I was vaccinated. I was very ill and hospitalised for twelve days, on oxygen all that time, and treated with eight different drugs. I’m exceedingly grateful to our wonderful health service because they saved my life. I’m also grateful to have been vaccinated twice, and I’ll be grateful to get my third vaccine, whenever that might be. I’ve always been careful, but at the moment I’m even more careful, because numbers are high. I understand totally people being happy to get a third vaccine, and I understand that some people are very afraid of this awful virus. I don’t understand how people can moan and have no sense of gratitude.

Maybee I understand that you have been, and are, very afraid, and that you have done everything possible to keep yourself and your husband safe. It’s your friend you has complained and said it’s a nuisance to have to go twice in the week to get vaccines. It’s your friend who is ungrateful, not you. I apologise if you thought I was saying you’re ungrateful, I wasn’t, I was commenting on your friend’s attitude, not yours.

But it is a nuisance. Surely it couldn’t have been difficult to do them both at th3 same time.

You just don’t get it do you natateturbe? We are priveleged to be getting a third vaccine in this country and the entitlement of some people is frankly unbelievable. Nuisance is unbelievable. Some people in this world have to walk hours in a day just to get clean water. Some people in this world have to walk days to get to the nearest hospital or doctor. We are priveleged to live here, just a simple accident of birth, and people moan about having to make a little effort to access their third free vaccine. Frankly I’m astounded! How about a little sense of proportion. We should all be grateful that we’re being offered, and will get, a third vaccine.

I believe the advice is to wait to be contacted? (Unless you are NHS frontline staff, in which case you can book on line)? Having been double jabbed and having caught Covid despite being careful, I now just carry on with the same precautions. What else can we do?